Hear us Roar

Our podcast guest this week is N. J. Mastro (Solitary Walker: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft, Black Rose Writing, February 2025) Nancy's debut is an historical, biographical novel of the woman most people consider the first true feminist. We discuss how to deal with the news that two novels with the same general subject matter are being released right before yours, how she had to narrow her focus to Mary's last ten years, and how research is never over, even during revision. Finally, we talk about how and why Nancy changed her cover after publication and the WFWA groups which were instrumental to her writing success.
 
N.J. Mastro writes historical fiction and publishes Herstory Revisited, a blog where she reviews biographical novels about prominent women from the past. In 2025, she published her debut novel, Solitary Walker: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft. Besides writing, Mastro is an avid reader, a seasoned cook, and a wine enthusiast. A former school superintendent, she holds a doctorate in educational leadership, a master's in school administration, and a bachelor's degree in elementary education. Originally from Minnesota, she and her husband retired to South Carolina so they could golf year around. You can find N.J. and her blog Herstory Revisited on Substack at https://nancy691.substack.com/.
To learn more about N.J., click here.

This week's podcast guest is Lisa F. Rosenberg (Fine, I'm a Terrible Person, Sibylline Press, January 2025). What happens when you come across a character so juicy you want someone to write about them and the only person who can is you? If you're Lisa F. Rosenberg, you go back to school to get an MFA, make your thesis a debut novel, and enter the world of writing. We discuss her journey, including working with a woman-centric publisher, learning to grow from feedback, and the process of finding the community and the venues that match your novel.
 
Lisa Rosenberg has a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley in Art History, a M.A. in Graduate Humanities, and MFA in Creative writing from Dominican University. Her early professional career was in the blue-chip retail art world as a Gallerist for several prominent San Francisco art dealers including Crown Point Press and John Berggruen Gallery. After transitioning to museum education, she was most recently a public guide at SFMOMA and Museum Educator on staff at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Her writing until recently has been in her professional life, primarily non-fiction, essays for exhibition catalogs, art criticism, tours, and public talks. Her fiction has appeared in Amaranth: a journal of food writing, art, and design, and she was recently a quarter-finalist in the Driftwood Press in house short story contest. Her debut novel: Fine, I'm a Terrible Person was published in January of 2025 by Sibylline Press. 
To learn more about Lisa, click here.

Our guest this week is Evelyn Ann Casey (Candlewood, Three Towers Press, February 2025). Evelyn's debut, set in the 1970's, is considered historical fiction and we commiserate about how old that makes us feel. Then we discuss how Flea Bag's second season with its "hot priest" theme helped her see deeper into her own novel which centers around both a predatory priest and a forbidden love story. Listen to hear her take on Catholic vs. Christian-based small presses and what a bookseller taught her about what shelf her novel actually belonged on (hint: it wasn't romance).  
 
Evelyn Ann Casey writes stories filled with grace and gumption. Her writing asks hard questions yet reflects hope in the darkest hours. A love of language and storytelling grew from her Chicago roots in a multi-ethnic neighborhood filled with Irish brogues, Sicilian music, and the banter of Jewish delis. Evelyn worked in government relations in Milwaukee and Madison before managing outreach programs in healthcare at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. When not exploring locales near and far with her husband, Evelyn attends music and theatre venues as often as possible and volunteers with community reading programs.
To learn more about Evelyn, click here.

This week's podcast guest is Angela Douglas (Every Fall, indie published, January 2025). Initially published by Rising Action, Angela bought her rights back to her debut and is now releasing her second book as well, The Mentor. We discuss having to take mental-health breaks during the writing because of more serious subject matter, and how many of the critiques she got back from beta readers and editors suggested changing different things, making revision tricky. We explore what's different about publishing in Canada, how she advises new authors to not say yes to everything to avoid burnout and she describes her new venture, Eyes on Books, where peers share marketing successes and missteps and learn from each other's experiences.
 
Angela Douglas is an award-winning Canadian author of psychological thrillers, based in the Okanagan. Her debut novel, Every Fall, has been recognized by the Crime Writers of Canada Excellence Awards, the Canadian Book Club Awards, the Pen Craft Awards, and the National Indie Excellence Awards. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers of Canada, the Women's Fiction Writers Association and Sisters in Crime. She is also the founder of Eyes on Books, a Book Marketing Hub. When she isn't working or hanging out with her family, she hides in her studio, writing. Her next psychological thriller, The Mentor, comes out in Fall 2026.
To learn more about Angela, click here.

Our guest this week is Mary Hansen (The Traveling Archivist Eastern Oregon, Luminare Press, January 2025). We delve into the differences between a librarian and an archivist, how Mary thinks of archival research as a 'creative act', how a PBS documentary provided the inspiration for her debut, and the positives of working with a book coach who doesn't try to change your story. Then she discusses how she initially used SubStack as a safe, low-profile rehearsal space for testing out her unique voice and how her character's rich back story became her follow-up novel.  
 
Mary B. Hansen is a writer and archivist who understands the power of stories and information to transform lives, including her own. As a writer, Mary uses story to facilitate change and deepen emotion. As an archivist, she sees information, archival and current, as a tool for finding our place in the larger world. Mary is a Certified Archivist with a Master's in Library and Information Science. She is currently focused on writing about archives rather than working in them. She lives and writes in Portland, Oregon with her partner, 2 cats and a very smart Australian Shepherd.
 To learn more about Mary, go to https://marybhansen.com/